The news, which was first revealed by The Cricketer during an interview with Warwickshire chief executive Stuart Cain, comes as little surprise, with Laura MacLeod currently regional director of cricket at Central Sparks
Warwickshire have named Laura MacLeod as their new head of women's cricket, following the announcement a fortnight ago of the county's tier-one status.
The news, which was first revealed by The Cricketer during an interview with Warwickshire chief executive Stuart Cain, comes as little surprise, with MacLeod currently regional director of cricket at Central Sparks.
Cain told The Cricketer that MacLeod would report into Gavin Larsen, whose performance director role will expand in 2025 to include men's and women's cricket.
He described MacLeod's job as "a half-high-performance, half-administrative role to start with, which will then morph more into a high-performance role over time".
Warwickshire were always extremely likely to win a tier-one side, even more so once Worcestershire confirmed that for reasons of resource they wouldn't be submitting a bid into the tender process, while Warwickshire first attempted to professionalise their women's team two years ago, albeit unsuccessfully.
"It's a big project overseeing the transition from Sparks to Bears, and becoming immersed in the development of the new brand as well as the continued elevation of the on-field performance," said MacLeod, whose current role at Sparks is a difficult split of responsibilities normally shared between a director of cricket, director of operations and chief executive.
"It's time to build on the success of The Hundred and give many more young women the hope and belief they too can have a professional playing career in cricket.
"It'll be a huge thrill to see girls walking around Birmingham in Bears shirts with the names of their favourite players like Jones, Wong, and Perrin printed on the back."
MacLeod will work under performance director Gavin Larsen (David Rogers/Getty Images)
MacLeod will sit above a head coach, and her remit will include overseeing the squad, coaching and cricket operations at the county.
"Her expertise around all things women's cricket will be crucial as we build our new Bears Women environment," said Larsen.
"We'd love to hit the ground running in the new professional system and make Bears Women, and Birmingham, an epicentre for women's cricket.
"We have a strong group of contracted players, with the potential of some new signings, and with Laura's expertise at the helm I think the future is bright. The club has been extremely supportive and it's an exciting time as we look ahead."
Warwickshire also confirmed to The Cricketer last month that Edgbaston would undergo a six-figure overhaul of the ground's City End to develop a women's high-performance centre akin to the men's on the other side of the stadium.
"Whereas some clubs have said they'd create mixed-use facilities, we're going to create a high-performance centre to replicate the men's," said Cain.
He added: "We've lobbied really hard for this. Us, Lancashire and Surrey have lobbied really hard for this for the last two years. It was wrong that we didn't have a Bears women's professional team that was on equity with the men.
Laura MacLeod in her playing days for England (Paul Gilham/Getty Images)
"The Central Sparks was brilliant, but it made it hard to explain what that was," he said. "People would go to you and say, 'Why haven't the Bears got a professional women's team?' And you'd explain that there was this thing called the Central Sparks, and it was difficult for fans to understand, hard for sponsors to get their head around.
"Equally, the whole game has done a lot on diversity and bringing new communities into the game, and it was hard to do that while some people could say that, while you're all about equality, you also don't have a professional women's team, and you couldn't argue with that.
"This helps on a number of levels: it helps with the way that we engage with the community, it helps us commercially, it tidies things up for brands and simplifies it, it works on every level. I think it will be massive."
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